The Ship, Lambeth, SE11

A vibrant Craft led pub with twelve or so taps behind the bar, there are two handpumps but were not in use, one had a turned clip of London Brewing London Lush. It's a hockey stick shaped room with plenty of natural light at the front. I had a nice half of Drop Project Slice. A decent pub.

The Ship dates from at least 1805, but I suspect that it was rebuilt at a later date in the 19th century. It was a former Watney’s house, as evinced by the Watney Combe Reid 1898 roundel atop the pole sign. The interior is plain, with a battleship grey and white colour scheme, with lemon yellow Anaglypta ceiling. The island bar features much copper pipework which looks a bit steampunk, alongside tedious green shiny glazed tiles; the bar front is wainscoted, painted brick red. There are quite ornate columns, the obligatory Corinthian capitals painted gold; furniture is conventional. It’s quite dark in here, illumination coming from an assortment of lighting styles, but also the lambent glow from a megascreen, showing unwatched football. A noisy middle-aged gang of pub crawlers was on the way out at the time of my arrival (are they in for a disappointment), remaining customers were a slightly older bunch, certainly compared to most of the customers on my mini crawl. Ales amounted to a cider on polypin, then one unused pump and just London Brewing Co.’s London Lush at £2.25 a half and really a bit fruity for me, certainly on a chilly December night; surely this would be better suited as a Summer drink? This place is a bit blah really. There’s little atmosphere, an emphasis on sport (which no one was watching) and a limited drinks’ selection, meaning that if I were to find myself in the area again, I’d head straight for the Dog House.

A fairly decent dog-friendly local just away from the tourist areas.  The front garden of this Georgian terrace has been turned into an outside seating area, screened off from the road, while the interior is described by Graham and Alan, below, and includes some impressive ornate columns where walls had previously supported the structure above.  The barmaid was very welcoming, though some of the young drunk yuppies who still haunt this area were a bit annoying.  Food was mainly pizzas, which was fine, plus some other bits and pieces at average prices.  Only one ale on, Sambrook’s Scrumdown, accompanied by Old Rosie on draught.  There was a large selection of overpriced craft beers: Beavertown Neck Oil and Lupus, Holy Hand Grenade, Pressure Drop’s Tambourine Mountain and Siren’s Suspended in Rakau, plus a craft lager, Fizzy Bubbly from Tiny Rebel.  Why on Earth do they have to come up with these ridiculous names? There was also a fridge full of bottles and cans of various beers.   I’d be happy to drop back in next time I’m in the area. 

Official site of The Ship - www.frontierpubs.co.uk

Official site of The Ship - www.frontierpubs.co.uk

Nice locals pub and quite cosy.James Brown on the sound system.Three cask beers from Butcombe,Adnams and my Marstons -61 deep which was okay.not bad